For many years agricultural balers have been used to consolidate and package crop material so as to facilitate the storage and handling of the crop material for later use. Usually, a mower-conditioner cuts and conditions the crop material for windrow drying in the sun. When the cut crop material is properly dried, a baler, for example a round baler, the most frequently used in industry, travels along the windrows to pick up the crop material and form it into cylindrically-shaped round bales.
More specifically, the cut crop material is gathered at the front of the baler from along the ground, onto a pickup assembly, and introduced into a bale-forming chamber within the baler. Inside the cut crop is rolled up into a predetermined size. A conventional bale chamber may include a pair of opposing sidewalls with a series of belts, chains, and/or rolls that rotate and compress the crop material into the cylindrically-shaped round bale. When the predetermined size is achieved, the cylindrically-shaped round bale is wrapped and bound by either net wrapping, plastic wrapping, and/or wire. After the round bale is wrapped, the back of the baler, or tailgate, opens and the wrapped bale is discharged.
Net wrapping, here after referring to net and plastic wrapping, is fed into the baler off a net roll and into a net wrapper assembly, conventionally located in the front of the baler. As the baler forms, bounds, and distributes the bale, netting is depleted until the net roll needs to be replaced by a spare net roll. Typically, one or two spare net rolls are stored on the baler, usually housed at the rear of the baler at the tailgate. When a net roll needs to be replaced, the operator discards the depleted net roll, walks to the back of the baler to acquire a stored net roll, then walks the stored net roll to the front of the baler, and then installs the new net roll. Net roll length typically measures 122 to 130 centimeters (48 to 51 inches) in length and between 30 and 45 kilograms (70 and 100 pounds) in weight. The size and weight of the net rolls impose for awkward transport from the rear and awkward installation at the front of the baler. The operator is tasked to lift the net roll to a net supporting tube and slide the net roll onto the tube. The supporting tube can be 4 to 5 feet off the ground. Additionally, once on the tube, the net roll needs to be threaded into the net wrapper assembly and the net roll is then pushed into the operating position. Thus, it is desirable to minimize operator effort to replace a net roll in a baler. Relatedly, it is also desirable to improve storage capability of net rolls on round balers.
What is needed is a process for net roll installation into the net wrapper assembly that minimizes manual operator effort to install spare net rolls into an active net roll position in the assembly, minimizes time of total manual operator involvement when replacing and installing a net roll, and thus effectively improves the capability of the baler.